BHB: Hemporium’s come a long way since the days when your Constantia branch was raided by the police to see if the hemp socks you were selling had THC?

ST: Well done on digging up (or remembering) that classic story from our history! It’s absurd and quite amusing to think that actually happened, but it just goes to show how misinformed many people were back then. Another one of our classics of a similar nature, is how often we would get people saying “hemp hey? Does that mean you can smoke your socks?”. We would do our best to look amused, as if it was the first time we’d heard that brilliant piece of wit.

BHB: What have been the main challenges and changes you’ve experienced in the hemp retail market over the past 10 years?

ST: Both of those examples are perfect illustrations of some of our main challenges over the years. Firstly the prohibitive legal framework for cannabis and hemp, and secondly the misinformation or lack of education around the plant. With regards to the legal side, without a legal local hemp industry we’ve had to import our textiles, and even then our shipments have been detained or delayed at customs multiple times. We have also been unable to use paid advertising on google or social media platforms because hemp products violated their terms and conditions. That has made it much more difficult to get our message out there, as these platforms have all but completely strangled “organic” (unpaid) content. More recently that has changed though thankfully, and over the last few years we have had more success in that regard.

BHB: To date Hemporium has been forced by law to import hemp and hemp products. This has obviously made it more expensive for the consumer. With the country’s second legal hemp season underway, how long will it take before you no longer rely on imports?

ST:  Our main business currently is our range of hemp products, including clothing and bags that we manufacture from hemp textiles, as well as selling those textiles to local designers and brands who use them for their own ranges. We don’t have processing facilities to turn raw plant material into the kind of high-quality textiles needed for our products and textile customers. Nor or we looking to invest in setting up or running such a processing facility.

While we have celebrated the massive milestone of legal hemp cultivation in South Africa, it doesn’t really help us that much for now. While we are eager to use locally-sourced hemp textiles, we suspect it may still be quite some time before the necessary facilities are in place to provide us with the kind of quality textiles we need.

BHB: Will local production bring the price of hemp products down?

ST: To some degree yes. Regarding something like hemp building materials, it makes more sense to source them locally rather than to pay for shipping, import duties and taxes.

On the other hand, items like hemp clothing or accessories should be viewed more as premium quality products. Products like these provide countless benefits for the environment and for the consumer. They are sustainable, biodegradable, have a favourable carbon profile, are breathable, durable and long-lasting, among many more. So naturally these products can’t compare in price to inferior, synthetic, mass-produced counterparts.

BHB: To what extent is there still a stigma attached to hemp products?

ST: Not that much in South Africa as far as I can tell. If anything, there are still people who don’t know much about the abundant benefits the plant has to offer. When I first started working in this space, there was still an idea that cannabis and therefore hemp were evil. Cannabis being illegal seemed to reinforce or confirm that idea. As the awareness and acceptance around cannabis in general has increased, the stigma has almost completely dissolved (in my experience).

Especially now that recreational cannabis is just about legal, and so widely available. Also, many younger people were not around or old enough to be affected by all the negative conditioning in the same way, so they are more open minded to the plant’s positive side.

There is evidence that humans have been working with cannabis for thousands of years. If you look up the etymology of the word canvas, it comes from the latin word “cannabis”. It is only much more recently – within the last hundred years or so - that it was banned and vilified around the world. It has been incredibly satisfying to see the plant return to its rightful place of acceptance and rewarding to think that Hemporium has played a role in that.

BHB: The opening of the new Hemporium flagship store in the Hemp Hotel in Harrington Street, has set a new bar for cannabis retail. What inspired the vision and what is it’s unique selling proposition?

ST: It’s a continuation Hemporium founder Duncan Parker and Director Tony Buddens’s mission to show how versatile hemp can be, and how it can provide solutions to so many of society’s problems at so little cost to our planet.

The USP is that it offers Africa’s widest range of hemp products, whilst being situated in the world’s tallest building made using hemp building materials. The building itself, as well as our store fittings prioritise natural and sustainable materials which also echoes our eco-conscious ethos.

BHB: What products are your fastest sellers?

ST: Textiles. We offer a wide range of luxurious, organic hemp textiles. From hemp linens and canvas to fleece and hemp-silk blends. They are very popular with the public, as well as numerous local businesses who use them for clothing, footwear, soft furnishings, surf boards, nappies, art & décor pieces and much more.

BHB: What is your favourite hemp product?

ST:  I love our Hemporium t-shirts. They are breathable and incredibly comfortable. Great for being active or just relaxing. I also love to include hemp seed oil in my smoothies. It’s a quick and easy way to make use of hemp’s abundant nutrient profile.

BHB: How many other outlets does Hemporium have and what are the plans going forward?

ST: In addition to our online store, we have our outlet store in Westlake and our flagship concept store in Harrington Street. We get such a lot of requests about a Joburg store, and we’d love to do that at some point. But for now we are focused on Cape Town.

BHB: One of Hemporium’s successes has been to work with local producers to create uniquely South African products. Can you give us some examples? ST: Spearheaded by commercial director Philippa Mohr, we have developed products for, and given guidance to many local brands. We worked with Lanzerac, a wine estate established in 1692, to provide hemp table cloths. We also worked with Carol Boyes company to develop hemp aprons. We are proud to facilitate hemp’s inclusion into such long-standing, established South African institutions.

BHB: What advice would you give local entrepreneurs wanting to enter the hemp value chain? Where do the opportunities lie for them?

ST: Do your research and make sure there is a market for what you are offering. For example we get a lot of would-be hemp farmers contacting us for off-take agreements on their potential hemp crops, and we have to explain that we are not in the market for raw hemp plant material. We usually put them in touch with our contacts who use hemp for building materials. There was a boom in CBD products some years ago, but we’ve seen the demand for CBD products decline. So I wouldn’t get too invested in CBD at this time, unless the product was very different somehow.

The great part is with hemp being so versatile, there are many potential avenues, if people do their research. People can choose a product and offer a better version of it, made from hemp. As mentioned above, we’ve worked with brands who use hemp for everything from sustainable surfboards that don’t rely on toxic fibreglass to biodegradable, plastic-free nappies.

BHB: Everyone involved in the cannabis industry has come out with a life lesson from their experiences so far. What’s yours?

ST: My time with Hemporium has shown the value of patience, perseverance, and determination. The fact that hemp was ever banned in the first place already seemed ludicrous, bearing in mind how much it can help heal our planet and provide for its people. Campaigning for hemp and cannabis to return to the mainstream could sometimes feel hopeless.

While It was encouraging to see more countries around the world slowly start to make more allowances for hemp and cannabis, our government seemed to endlessly drag their heels. We would see lots of promises from the powers that be, but nothing seemed to materialise.

Now we have finally seen real progress, and hemp cultivation is happening, it feels like a reminder that if you hold the vision and keep working towards it, your goal could one day be a reality.

Shale Tinkler, is Hemporium’s passionate Marketing Manager with a mission to make a difference. With a deep belief in the benefits of hemp and a commitment to sustainability, Shale has been a catalyst for Hemporium’s vision to shift perspectives and elevate hemp to its rightful place in the mainstream.

He describes himself as “a true champion of the underdog, dedicated himself to breaking down the negative stigma that has surrounded hemp for too long. I see the immense potential in this versatile plant and am committed to showing the world how hemp can play a vital role in creating a more sustainable future”.

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